Online Reporter
OLYMPIC champion Lukas Maertens of Germany on Saturday broke the men’s 400-metre freestyle world record dating back to 2009 at the Stockholm Open.
The 23-year-old clocked 3min 39.96sec to shave 0.11sec off the mark achieved by fellow German Paul Biedermann at the world championships in Rome in July 2009.
Biedermann’s mark of 3:40.07 was achieved wearing a polyurethane swimsuit that has since been banned in competition.
Maertens, who won Olympic gold over the distance in Paris last year in 3:41.78, had until now a personal best time of 3:40.33 in the 400m freestyle, achieved at the 2024 German championships.
Two more breaststrokers booked their tickets to the World Championships in Singapore later this year after swimming the qualifying times on the penultimate night of action at the SA National Swimming Championships in Gqeberha on Saturday.
Both defending champion Michael Houlie and Chris Smith achieved the required mark in the morning heats of the 50m breaststroke and did it again in the final.
It was Houlie who emerged as the winner, successfully defending his title in a time of 26.90 seconds with Smith second in 27.11 seconds.
“I think coming into this afternoon, I was really excited, I backed myself as well and know that when it’s time to race, to have that big match temperament, I know I can deliver, so I’m just happy I got my hand to the wall first,” said Houlie, who was thrilled with the win after his heat time was just one hundredth of a second slower than Smith’s.
“He’s very young with a lot of potential and it’s just awesome to have another world-class breaststroker to push each other,” he added of the 19-year-old.
The other world champs qualifier of the day came from Pieter Coetzé in the heats of the 50m freestyle.
The 20-year-old sped to victory in his heat in 22.05 and, although he was slower in the evening final, still safely secured the title in 22.45 seconds.
“I just wasn’t really feeling it this afternoon as well as I did this morning, because it’s all about your feel for the water in the 50, so I felt more smooth this morning,” he said after the final.
“I think this morning I just had no expectations, so it worked out well… I’m very inconsistent in this event, it’s kind of more fun for me, the 50 free, so after I got the time this morning, I was happy to get the win tonight.” — SuperSport.
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